Chaserider

Chaserider

Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora (6502), seen here in Stafford on 29 March 2025, whilst preparing to operate an 828 to Lichfield. This is one of 2 Evoras purchased by Chaserider in 2024 to upgrade route 828 from Stafford to Lichfield.
Parent	Centrebus Group
Founded	1977 (Original) January 2021 (Revived)
Headquarters	Wenlock Way, Leicester
Service area	Cannock Stafford Uttoxeter Lichfield Walsall Wolverhampton
Depots	Delta Way, Cannock
Fleet	61 (as of January 2026)
Fuel type	Diesel
Operator	Centrebus Group
Chief executive	Julian Peddle
Website	www.chaserider.co.uk

Chaserider ^[1] is the brand name for bus services operated around Cannock and Staffordshire by D&G Bus, a local bus operator owned by Centrebus who are based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

History

The Chaserider brand name, which refers to Cannock Chase, was first used by Midland Red from 1977 ^[2] until 1992.

During November 2020, Centrebus Group subsidiary D&G Bus announced they would be taking over the Cannock depot of Arriva Midlands from the end of January 2021 with operations in Cannock and Stafford running under the revived Chaserider brand. ^[3]

Services

Chaserider services operate mainly around Cannock and Stafford with some further afield into Wolverhampton and Walsall. ^{[4] [5]}

Since taking over from Arriva Midlands in January 2021, Chaserider have undertaken a number of service reviews including a trial of running the Pye Green circular buses on Sundays via Designer Outlet West Midlands. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Some of the Stafford town centre network inherited from Arriva has been taken over by Select Bus Services. ^[9]

From June 2021, Chaserider introduced a new service X14 between Cannock, Shifnal, Telford and Oakengates. This had 6 journeys in each direction, but was withdrawn in January 2022 owing to low passenger numbers. ^{[10] [11]}

Chaserider (541) an Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC in Travel Telford branding.

From February 2023, Chaserider began operating subsidised services 102 and 103 along with school services 104 and 105 in the Telford area. Also operated under contract to Telford and Wrekin Council, Chaserider also began to operate service 100 in late 2022. These services utilise a fleet of 6 suitably branded Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMCs.

Service 1 which operated between Cannock and Walsall and ran every 20 minutes at its peak was curtailed to operate only between Cheslyn Hay and Cannock from the summer 2022. This was controversial as at the same time National Express cut its competing X51 between Cannock and Walsall (and which continues to Birmingham) to every 30 minutes from 20 minutes between the two towns.

In July 2023, Chaserider commenced operations on behalf of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Staffordshire County Council, running services 35A and 36 between Walsall, Aldridge and Lichfield. Additionally, service 19 under contract in October 2023 commenced, between Walsall and Bloxwich ^[12] however due to antisocial behaviour in the Coal Pool area the service was diverted, finished early and briefly withdrawn until an alternative operator was found. Service 19 is now operated by Carolean Coaches.

In November 2023, Chaserider replaced National Express West Midlands on service 5 (Wolverhampton to Codsall) on evenings and Sundays. Day time journeys were operated by Banga Buses. Then, in May 2025, Chaserider also replaced Banga Buses to operate the whole 5 service. In September 2025 the evening and Sunday journeys were taken over under tender by National Express West Midlands.

In June 2024, saw the extension of the 63 Cannock to Rugeley via Brereton linking onto Uttoxeter with some journeys subcontracted to Bus Link.

In July 2024, saw the 35A Walsall to Leighswood service be withdrawn and replaced with a new 36A extending from Leighswood to Lichfield via Muckley Corner (similar to former Diamond 35 route). Since January 2025, the 36 has operated on Sundays. These changes are on behalf of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Staffordshire County Council. ^[13]

It was revealed in May 2025, that Arriva Midlands had won the tenders for all the Telford work that Chaserider operated. They ceased operating the routes in Telford during July 2025. ^[14]

Chaserider began operating service 57 which runs between Wolverhampton and Bilston (currently curtailed to Willenhall due to long running road works in the area), in November 2025 which was previously operated by Diamond. Since January 2026, service 25 (Wolverhampton-Pendeford) has been operated by Chaserider this service was previously operated by National Express West Midlands.

It was announced on 24 October 2025, that following the completion of the Stafford roadworks around Queensville, which meant that services 74, 826, 827 had been disrupted and diverted because of the long term works all services have reverted back to normal line of route. ^[15]

Fleet

As part of the sale to D&G Bus, Arriva included 46 vehicles with sale of Cannock depot, since the takeover most of the vehicles have been refurbished into D&G two tone red livery and latterly into the new blue and red livery with Chaserider branding alongside some newer additions from within D&G parent company Centrebus Group.

Ongoing fleet upgrades are seeing older vehicles being fitted with Mobitec Audio/Visual Next Stop Announcements to comply with PSVAR legislation.

As of January 2026, the fleet consists of 61 vehicles ^[16] :

Fleet Number	Registration	Type	Notes
1	YX65 RWK	ADL Enviro200 MMC
2	YX65 RWL	ADL Enviro200 MMC
40	YX09 FMG	ADL Enviro200
52	YX09 FLM	ADL Enviro200
64	SN64 CVM	Wright StreetLite DF
65	MX62 AWU	Wright StreetLite DF
66	MX62 AWZ	Wright StreetLite DF
67	MK63 WZX	Wright StreetLite DF
99	YX11 CTV	ADL Enviro200
148	MX08 DGE	Optare Solo
162	YJ58 CCN	Optare Solo SR
163	YJ09 MLL	Optare Solo SR
166	YJ09 MLN	Optare Solo SR
168	YJ09 MLV	Optare Solo SR
180	YK57 FHH	Optare Solo
181	YK57 FHJ	Optare Solo
182	YK58 PKD	Optare Solo
191	FJ58 HYP	Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban
192	FJ58 HYR	Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban
194	FJ58 HYT	Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban
196	FJ58 HYV	Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban
198	FJ58 HYX	Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban
329	KX14 FHW	Optare Solo SR
496	YX67 WGZ	ADL Enviro200
497	YX67 UYA	ADL Enviro200
498	YX67 UYB	ADL Enviro200
499	YX67 UYC	ADL Enviro200
505	YX63 LGJ	ADL Enviro200
527	YX65 RGO	ADL Enviro200
528	YX65 RGU	ADL Enviro200
538	YX68 UMT	ADL Enviro200 MMC
539	YX17 NKZ	ADL Enviro200 MMC
542	YX72 ONL	ADL Enviro200 MMC
543	YX23 OTE	ADL Enviro200 MMC
581	YX11 CNY	ADL Enviro200
593	YY64 GWL	ADL Enviro200
594	YY64 GWM	ADL Enviro200
610	SN14 EDX	Wright StreetLite DF	Cannock Chase Radio Wrap
611	FN63 KFL	Wright StreetLite DF	Cannock Chase Radio Wrap
630	BU16 UWK	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evolution
631	BU16 UWP	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evolution
632	BU16 UWO	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evolution
638	BV73 MKD	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora
639	BV73 MKE	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora
640	BV73 MJX	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora
641	BV73 MJY	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora
670	YH63 CXC	VDL SB180 MCV Evolution
671	YH63 CXB	VDL SB180 MCV Evolution
3009	YJ13 HNW	Optare Solo SR
3010	YJ13 HOH	Optare Solo SR
5015	YY25 HYX	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5016	YY25 HYZ	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5202	YW68 PDX	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5211	WB21OGC	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5214	YX75 KUK	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5215	YX75 KUN	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5216	YX75 KUO	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5217	YX75 LCF	ADL Enviro200 MMC
5218	YX75 LCG	ADL Enviro200 MMC
6501	BU74 YRN	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora
6502	BU74 YRO	Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora

Bus services

Route	Destination	Via	Service	Notes
010	Huntington Great Wyrley (Circular)	Cannock Bus Station, Bridgtown	Mon-Fri	Used to operate to Bloxwich & Walsall when under Arriva
030	Brownhills & Cannock	Norton East, Brownhills West	Mon-Sat	Used to operate to Walsall when under Arriva
050	Codsall	Whitmore Reans, Bilbrook	Mon-Sat	Previously operated by Banga Buses and National Express
0250	Pendeford & Wolverhampton	Goldthorn Park, Bilston, Willenhall, Wednesfield, Fallings Park	Mon-Sun	Previously operated by National Express. Sunday journeys run between Pendeford and Bilston only.
0250 0260	Pye Green (Circular)	Hednesford	Mon-Sat
0360	Lichfield & Walsall	Rushall, Aldridge, Shenstone	Mon-Sun	Previously operated as "35B" by Arriva, Diamond and Central Buses; and as “36” by Select Bus Services although it only operated between Aldridge and Lichfield
036A0	Lichfield Bus Station & Walsall	Rushall, Aldridge, Muckley Corner	Mon-Sat	Previously operated as "35" by Arriva, Diamond and Central Buses
0570	Wolverhampton Bus Station	Wednesfield, Willenhall	Mon-Sat	Previously operated by Arriva, iGo and Diamond and continued to Bilston.
0600	Lichfield & Cannock	Heath Hayes, Norton Canes, Burntwood	Mon-Sun
0620	Lichfield & Cannock	Chadsmoor, Hednesford, Cannock Wood, Chase Terrace	Mon-Sat
0630	Uttoxeter & Cannock	Chadsmoor, Hednesford, Rugeley, Brereton, Handsacre, Abbots Bromley	Mon-Sat	Extended from Rugeley to Uttoxeter. Some journeys sub-contracted to Bus Link
0700	Wolverhampton & Cannock	Longford, Bridgtown, Cheslyn Hay, Featherstone, Westcroft, The Scotlands	Mon-Sat	Previously served New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton
0710	Wolverhampton & Cannock	Bridgtown, Cheslyn Hay, Upper Landywood, Essington, Wednesfield, Heath Town	Mon-Sat	Previously operated by Select Buses. Only weekday morning and early afternoon journeys continue beyond Essington to Wolverhampton.
0740	Stafford & Cannock	Huntington, Brocton, Radford Bank, Queensville	Mon-Sun	Extended to Cheslyn Hay and Walsall for a short period
04050	Olive Park Estate	Uttoxeter Station	Mon-Sat
04320	Eccleshall & Stafford	Great Bridgford, Woodseaves	Mon-Sat
08260	Lichfield & Stafford	Queensville, Baswich, Milford, Rugeley, Brereton, Handsacre	Mon-Sat	Route was briefly curtailed between Stafford and Rugeley due to roadworks in Stafford which concluded in November 2025.
08270	Stafford (Circular)	Queensville, Baswich, Milford, Brocton, Wildwood	Mon-Sat
08280	Lichfield & Stafford	County Hospital, Tixall, Great Haywood, Rugeley, Handsacre	Mon-Sun	Previously numbered 825 but with a slightly different route
0828A0	Rugeley	County Hospital, Tixall, Great Haywood, Etchinghill	Mon-Sat
08410	Uttoxeter & Stafford	County Hospital, Weston, Hixon, Bramshall	Mon-Sat	Previously operated by D&G; some journeys operate via Hopton and Salt
0841A0	Stafford	Great Haywood, Weston, Salt, Hopton	Mon-Fri	1 morning journey School days only

References

1. Companies House extract company no 6918592 D&G Bus Limited
2. Harvey, Ian (1 September 2017). "Phil Gillam: All steamed up - but only in parallel universe". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
3. Dougall, Emily (1 December 2020). "Arriva to sell Cannock bus depot as the Chaserider brand returns". CBW. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
4. North Staffs Route List Archived 4 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved Jan 2017
5. Cheshire Route List Archived 6 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved Jan 2017
6. Hardiman, Deborah. "Bus routes axed over low passenger rates". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
7. Hodgkiss, Samuel (31 January 2022). "Bus routes changes in Rugeley, Cannock, Stafford". burtonmail. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
8. Bunn, George (9 February 2022). "Upset as bus service from Cannock to Lichfield is scrapped". burtonmail. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
9. "Cannock to Telford with Chaserider". BusAndTrainUser. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
10. "June 2021 - Staffordshire County Council". www.staffordshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
11. "January 2022 - Staffordshire County Council". www.staffordshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
12. "Chaserider". Chaserider. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
13. https://www.chaserider.co.uk/news/walsall-to-lichfield-service-enhancements/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
14. "Major bus service upgrades go live today across Telford & Wrekin".
15. https://www.chaserider.co.uk/service-updates/
16. "Fleet list – Chaserider – bustimes.org". bustimes.org. Retrieved 1 January 2026.

External links

• Company website
• Flickr gallery